


The 'Journey'

by Jinx (jinx37kat)



Category: The OC
Genre: M/M, Schmoop
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2005-07-23
Updated: 2005-07-23
Packaged: 2018-04-25 01:47:09
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,338
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4941943
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jinx37kat/pseuds/Jinx
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Every night for the past two weeks, Ryan found himself sitting on his bed, agonizing over the tickets.  And every night for the past two weeks, he was no closer to a decision than he was on that first night.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The 'Journey'

Ryan sat on the edge of his bed, eyeing the two tickets he held in his hands. One was for him and the other was for Seth. The only problem was… he had yet to ask Seth if he wanted to go. And that was the question of the evening. Well, actually, it had been the question of the past several weeks. 

 

He had decided to go a few months ago, and not wanting to go alone, he bought two tickets… just in case. But he was reluctant to ask Seth. He knew what the answer was already. He knew what the answer would be when he bought both tickets in the first place. But a small part of his brain told him to buy both tickets just in case Seth surprised him and agreed to go with him.

 

But… there was the whole asking-Seth thing.

 

He hadn’t yet. 

 

And the date was getting closer and closer. There wasn’t much time left. The closer they got to the date, the more likely Seth would have made other plans and Ryan really wanted Seth to go with him.

 

But it was a big step, asking your pseudo-brother-best friend-turned boyfriend to do this.

 

He’d spent a lot of money for these tickets. Plus there was no way that he could get any kind of refund. 

 

He was committed. 

 

Of course there was no question that he would be going. He had made that decision months ago when he bought the tickets. He would go whether Seth went with him or not, but… it would be just that much better if Seth would go with him.

 

They shared so much with each other as it was. And Ryan wanted to share this with Seth; he just wasn’t sure if Seth wanted Ryan to share this with him.

 

Every night for the past two weeks, Ryan found himself sitting on his bed, agonizing over the tickets. And every night for the past two weeks, he was no closer to a decision than he was on that first night.

 

The frustration was slowly killing him. At the very least, the frustration was making him more broody and short of patience than normal. And, if he were honest with himself, it was putting an actual strain on his and Seth’s relationship.

 

He knew he’d better come to a decision soon before Seth and he got into a real fight, not just the small spats that were occurring more and more frequently as of late.

 

Sighing, he clutched the tickets in his fingers and stood up. He took a step towards the door and froze.

 

Maybe tonight wasn’t the night to be doing this. Maybe Seth had already made other plans. Maybe he should think about this for another night. Maybe… maybe he ought to get off his ass and go ask Seth.

 

Taking another deep breath, Ryan slowly walked out of the pool house and stopped short in front of the French doors to the kitchen.

 

Maybe he’d ask Seth tomorrow.

 

He was just about to turn around when Sandy opened the door, eyebrow arched in silent amusement. “Are you going to stand out here all night long?”

 

“Uh… I was just… um, going to…” 

 

“Stare at the wonderful craftsmanship of our lovely French doors?” Sandy asked, lips quirking up at the corners.

 

Ryan pointed inside with the hand clutching the tickets. “See if Seth was home.”

 

Sandy grinned and opened the door wide enough to allow Ryan an unobstructed entrance.

 

“And standing at the door is going to answer your question?”

 

“Um, no?”

 

Sandy nodded his head towards the stairs. “Get.”

 

Ryan sighed and ducked his head. He was officially committed now. Damn it!

 

He trudged up the stairs, footfalls growing heavier with each step upwards. 

 

Much faster than he would have liked, Ryan found himself in front of Seth’s closed bedroom door.

 

He raised a hand to knock but then lowered it, changing his mind.

 

He stood at the barred room and stared at the wood, heart beating faster than if he’d just run up and down the soccer field several hundred times.

 

In fact, that would be preferable than this agony.

 

He raised his knuckles again and they hovered over the door for a few seconds before he rapped them on his forehead instead.

 

His palms were sweating and the tickets were getting damp, clutched tightly in his fist.

 

This was such a bad idea. Why did he even think that Seth would be agreeable to this? He didn’t. Not at all. In fact, he knew that Seth would NOT be agreeable to this. Hence the minor breakdown he was having in front of Seth’s bedroom door.

 

He gulped a few breaths and then took a deep one before straightening up to his full height and quickly knocked on the door before he could change his mind. He barely gave Seth enough time to get up from his bed let alone open the door before he turned around to flee down the stairs. Unfortunately for Ryan, Seth either had extreme super-fast powers of speed or he had been standing close to the door to begin with.

 

The door opened and Seth stood on the other side, his lips twitching and his eyes sparkling in mirth.

 

He leaned against the door jam, folding his arms across his chest. “I wondered when you were gonna come up.”

 

Ryan narrowed his eyes. “How did you know I was here?”

 

Seth grinned. “I saw you leave the pool house, like, five hours ago.” Ryan looked incredulous and Seth amended. “Okay, more like ten minutes ago, but… still.”

 

Seth grabbed Ryan by the shirt and pulled him into his room. Closing and locking the door behind them.

 

Seth moved to the bed and sat down, looking expectantly up at Ryan, who was standing very unsure of himself pressed up against the wall and the desk. His fist was making the tickets in his hand soon-to-be indistinguishable from papers in the trash.

 

Seth’s lips twitched again before he stood up and snagged Ryan’s arm, dragging him over to the bed. He pushed Ryan down so that he, too, was sitting on the bed next to Seth.

 

“Is there something you want to ask?” Seth inquired innocently.

 

That question immediately brought Ryan’s head up and he looked at Seth accusingly. “You know, don’t you?”

 

Seth pressed his lips together to keep from laughing, but the merriment in his soft brown eyes gave him away. “Yeah,” he grinned.

 

“How long?”

 

Seth raised his eyes to look at the ceiling, tapping his index finger on his chin, pondering. “Um, abouuuuut… a week.”

 

“A week?!”

 

Seth smiled playfully. “Yep.”

 

“How?”

 

“I found them in your drawer when I was looking for a battery for my iPod.”

 

“What were you doing looking for a battery in my room? There are plenty in the house,” Ryan demanded coolly.

 

“Cuz I was in the pool house when my battery died,” Seth reasoned.

 

“Oh.”

 

They were silent for a few moments before Seth said, “I was wondering if you were ever going to ask me.”

 

Ryan turned cynical eyes towards Seth. “Really,” Ryan said flatly. Seth nodded. “Why? It’s not like you’d want to go anyway.”

 

Seth looked at Ryan in genuine disbelief. “Of course I want to go. Why wouldn’t I?”

 

“Oh I don’t know,” Ryan snarked. “Maybe because you’re always dissing my taste in music. Specifically them.”

 

Seth gently pulled the mangled tickets from Ryan’s hand and tried to smooth out the small rectangular pieces of paper. The words were smudged from sweat, but still legible:

 

AN EVENING WITH

JOURNEY

RAIN OR SHINE

AT THE GREEK THEATRE

 

SUN OCT 9 2005 8:00PM

 

Seth leaned forward and gently pressed his lips against Ryan’s. “I want to go, Ryan. Because you want to go. And because I’d be with you.”

 

Ryan smiled into the kiss and the two boys fell back on the bed… the tickets momentarily forgotten between them.

 

 

Finis

7/23/05


End file.
